Published: First Edition published by Valley Games Inc., Second Edition by Word Forge Games

Playtime: 30-45 min. Depends on the map

Player Count: 1-4 players

The 2nd Edition D-Day Dice demo set was provided by Word Forge Games for preview. All components and artwork do not represent the final product. Pictures from the 1st Edition come from my own copy of D-Day Dice.

D-Day Dice is a dice rolling cooperative board game where players represent Allied soldiers storming through German machine gun nests. You and your fellow comrades work together to collect resources, gain courage, and slowly advance through enemy lines one sector at a time. The goal of each battle map is to reach the final bunker, which is fortified with machine guns and landmines to make your mission seem impossible. D-Day Dice is a war of attrition that is earned by managing your resources and timing your advance properly.

The 2nd Edition is an much needed update to the original game released in 2012 by Valley Games Inc. The 1st Edition was hard to find and if you could locate a copy, the price might have steered you away from it. I hope you’re ready for the possibility to grab this awesome game for a reasonable price. Word Forge Games is seeking funding on Kickstarter for D-Day Dice 2nd Edition on Kickstarter November 11, 2017. Before you read on, if you would like a full rundown of the gameplay, please read my review of D-Day Dice by clicking here. This KS preview is an explanation of the changes and upgrades from the original product to the 2nd Edition campaign.

Spit Shine on the Design

When I received the prototype demo of the 2nd Edition, I immediately noticed the size of the battle map. I like the quality of the original maps, but I already prefer the larger one. Owners of the first edition are aware of how crowded the icons in each sector can get due to the amount of effects that take place. Now I feel like there is room to breathe for everything. I have to remind myself that this is a prototype and it already has me excited about things to come.

Notice the difference in the size of the battle map and size of each sections. I like the prototype artwork already (right).

Rules to Combat

The 1st Edition rule book was an easy read for me to get a game of D-Day Dice up and running, BUT the 2nd Edition promises a more streamlined rule book. I think new players will hit the ground running faster than the original game. Word Forge Games stated that they spent a lot of time addressing the concerns of 1st Edition players over the last 5 years. I believe rules can always use a tweak, so I commend Word Forge Games for tightening up the rules.

Player Aids

The original player aid design is one of the best I have ever used in a game. The majority of the information of the game was clearly labeled and described on the card. The only major drawback was the small text felt squeezed on the card. Maybe I am nitpicking a little bit, but I have above average eyesight and I’m sure other players had to squint to read the text. The prototype version has bigger aids and I would hope that translates to a more comfortable reading experience. Once again, details.

Component Quality and Artwork

In the prototype I received, the dice were common dice you would use for any game and the cards were on cardstock. If you look at the pictures below, you can see examples of the 1st Edition components. Further down, you can see the slight changes in the artwork and layout of the cards. Check out the subtle changes to the design and artwork on the cards. The art on the 2nd Edition cards have a grittier and weathered look.

1st Edition components: Unit marker (top left), dice (top), resource card (bottom). The quality of the components is already great.The top two cards are prototype cards, but they will be more rounded like the 1st Edition cards below. Notice the more thematically darker and damaged look of the artwork.

The Verdict

If you’re going into D-Day Dice as a new potential backer, I can with full confidence recommend this game to anyone. If you are a solo player, this is one of the best on the market. As a cooperative game, you have some interesting choices to make, solid team mechanics, and optional scoring. I mean, this is a cooperative game at heart. D-Day Dice is the type of game where every roll has purpose. How you manage good, bad, and ugly rolls will determine your success or failure. The D-Day Dice is difficult and unforgiving, but every success is exciting and feels well earned. There are gameplay videos currently on Youtube and my review to gather more details. I hope this helps.

If you’re a current or former owner of the game, I’m sure you’re wondering….should I back this? I can’t gauge how gamers feel about refresh buttons on games versus hard reset buttons on the whole product. What I can say is the prototype kit I received made me feel like Word Forge Games put a lot of work into bringing more theme into the product by making slight changes to the art design. I already want to toss out my old player aids for the new ones. I’m a big fan of games that pay attention to detail and I thing this edition is an upgrade that provides more improvements to an already great product. I think there may be an opportunity to purchase previous expansion content from the original game, but with the 2nd edition improvements. Maybe a full campaign mode is in the works. I know that’s projecting, but I think that’s probably in the works for stretch goals….fingers crossed. If you know how the game works and the current quality of the components, I’ll let you decide. I would suggest that you keep your eye on the campaign.

Thanks you for your time and I hope you like today’s preview. If you would like updates on my content, please give my site a follow or follow me on Twitter using the tag @jambapg. Please feel free to ask questions about the game or any conversation is welcome. Thanks again for your time.

It’s probably in the top 10 solo game category. I look forward to seeing more stretch goals. By the way follow the blog if you want to warned about my giveaway starting next week! Of course for more content!

As a first edition owner, I’m torn. The upgrade costs almost as much as a new game but pledging for a new game comes with extras that aren’t in the upgrade. It’s a great game so I guess I’ll be backing for a whole new game…

I’ve had 1st Ed for a while, but only just played it for the first time at BGG.con. It was great, and I’m already backing the 2nd Ed Kickstarter.

I agree with Rob Bendig – I don’t see any reason to get the “Upgrade Kit” option. It only costs 5 GBP less than the base game, and you’ll miss out on most of the stretch goals and so on as far as I can tell. Yeah, it kind of sucks to re-buy a game, but this is a pretty significant upgrade overall.

Was a Commander-in-Chief for the first D-Day Dice Kickstarter and this time I’m backing at Serviceman level. The ability to honour my Great Uncle (who was killed in the latter stages of the war and whom I am named after) by naming a Serviceman after him was too good an opportunity to pass up. Have also added the Way to Hell expansion for this truly excellent dice game 🙂

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